Storms Slam Southeast

(NBC News) A powerful spring storm swept across the Deep South late Sunday, triggering flash floods across Mississippi and Alabama.

In Covington, Mississippi several homes were destroyed and at least nine people injured when a tornado tore through one neighborhood, ripping homes off foundations and throwing an entire roof into the trees.

Torrential rains forced residents in Alabama to evacuate; rescuers used rafts to help those unable to leave their homes.

In Jackson, Mississippi motorists were forced to abandon their cars in rising waters, while in nearby Yazoo County a 9-year-old girl is missing after she jumped into flood waters behind her parents home.

Rescuers searched through the night, but could not find the girl. Friends say the girl did not know how to swim and was last seen being pulled under by the current.